Getting warm bodies in cinema seats is no easy feat in the age of streaming (just ask the likes of Ster-Kinekor or NuMetro). Yet despite the rising challenge, Marvel managed to create something in 2008 that drew audiences back to cinemas in droves – and they managed to keep that drive going for just over a decade. 

You either are a superhero movie person, or you just aren’t. Depending on which one of the two camps you fall into, the period between 2008 and 2019 either felt like a never-ending assault of comic book plotlines, or the best time of your life. For your resident cinephile, the golden age of Marvel movies was less about the content of the films (although I’ll readily admit that I liked that too) and more about my fascination with the big machine that was churning these box office hits out at what felt like an unstoppable pace.

Pay close attention to the story that I’m about to tell you, because I think this might be the last time in our lifetimes (or ever) that we see this kind of success in the cinema game – and it’s worth knowing how it happened. 

Born to be rivals

First off, we need a basic understanding of the two big players in the superhero movie space. In the red corner (with the red logo, of course), you have Marvel. In the blue corner, you’ve got DC.

Both of these businesses started with comic books in the 1930s. DC was the first mover, kicking off in 1934. In 1938, they created their most famous character: Superman, believed by many to be the original superhero. The success of the Superman storyline prompted DC to create more superhero plots, and characters like Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, the Teen Titans and The Flash soon joined their ranks.

DC’s success didn’t go unnoticed, and soon a competitor appeared. Marvel published their first comic book in 1939, and soon introduced a steady stream of characters including Captain America, Spider-Man, Iron Man, the X-Men and the Fantastic Four. The legendary Stan Lee took over the reins at Marvel in 1973, and things went well for a while – but the good times wouldn’t last.

The rise of television led to a slump in the comic book industry, and Marvel was caught unprepared. They filed for bankruptcy in the 1990s and quickly changed tactics, experimenting with playing cards and launching Marvel Studios as a way to get their ideas off pages and onto screens. By the late 90s, Marvel Studios had successfully pulled Marvel out of the ditch. Little did anyone know that this hail-Mary gamble would go on to become their greatest win yet.

In the red corner

To distinguish their big screen ventures from their comic books, Marvel created what’s known as the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or MCU. The concept behind this name was to hint at the idea that all of their films would exist within the same shared “universe”. Much like the original Marvel Universe in comic books, the MCU would be established by crossing over common plot elements, settings, cast, and characters. Every film would tell its own story, but elements of that story would ripple into other films in the same universe.

It sounds like a fairly simple idea, but before the release of the first Marvel film in 2008, this had never successfully been achieved on screen, and for good reason. Beyond logistics like studio buy-in and the ability to lock in key actors for the (very, very) long run, the creativity needed to see the big overarching story and the patience required to tell it in pieces through individual films is rarely found. 

How does that differ from something like a franchise? Take Rocky for instance, which is a standalone film with sequels (and prequels) that all feature the same characters (usually played by the same actors). So why is Rocky a franchise, not a universe?

I think Patrick Shanley of The Hollywood Reporter said it really well: “The key differences between a regular franchise, such as The Fast and the Furious or Pitch Perfect films, and a shared universe is the amount of planning and interweaving that goes into each individual film. It’s all too easy to make a film that exists solely for the purpose of setting up future instalments and expanding a world, rather than a film that stands on its own merits while deftly hinting or winking at its place in the larger mythos. In that, the MCU has flourished.”

For Marvel, the stars aligned at exactly the right time. They had a rich IP trove of established characters and stories to draw from, plenty of budget to play with and an impressive list of directors and actors locked in. All the ingredients to create something very interesting were right there.

Let’s talk about phases

Once they established their Universe concept, Marvel started talking about phases. Traditionally, comic books would focus on telling one character’s story per book, but every once in a while they would do a “mega event” limited series, which would bring a bunch of characters together into one book to fight a common enemy. Marvel Studios president and chief producer Kevin Feige envisioned that each MCU phase would work the same way: a collection of movies about singular heroes, culminating with an Avengers film (which brings the whole team of heroes together).

MCU Phase 1 was launched in 2008, when Robert Downey Jr. first stepped out as Tony Stark/Iron Man, and concluded with the MCU’s first ensemble film, The Avengers, in 2012. In the five years between Iron Man and The Avengers, Marvel released Hulk, Thor, an Iron Man sequel and Captain America. Each film helped to set up the backstory and motivations of its titular hero, which meant that audiences who had been following along felt a deeper connection to the characters by the time they were thrown together into a big, showy ensemble film.

Phase 1 was well-received by audiences and critics, and superhero fever started to heat up. For a budget of $1 billion total across the 6 films in Phase 1, the MCU raked in $3.8 billion at the box office alone (so not taking into account the profits made on merchandise and streaming). The recipe was working, and Marvel looked unstoppable.

Phase 2 kicked off in 2013 and wrapped up in 2015. Marvel repeated their formula: five individual hero movies, culminating in Avengers: Age of Ultron. This time, they spent $1.79 billion across all the films to bring home $5.27 billion at the box office.

Phase 3, which in my opinion was the peak of the MCU, was its most ambitious endeavour yet. Marvel managed to churn out 11 films between 2016 and 2019: 9 individual character films, and a two-part mega ensemble in the form of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. Against a budget of $2.4 billion for the whole phase, the MCU delivered an astronomical $13.5 billion at the box office, as well as the highest-grossing film of all time (the grand finale, Endgame)*.

Like all good things, it couldn’t last forever. Phase 4 and onwards shifted the focus onto a combination of films and series for streaming, which led to a mixed bunch of hits and misses. The same audiences who managed to stay mostly hooked through the 23 films of Phase 1-3 were starting to show a bit of superhero fatigue, and with Covid-19 rearing its head and casting disarray over the Phase 4 release plan, it makes sense that things simmered down at this point.

In the blue corner

Behind the blue logo we find DC Comics, providing another excellent example of first mover disadvantage. While we’ve already established that DC started the comic book game, it’s clear that once their competitors got a foothold, they couldn’t quite keep up. 

Consider this: DC has the same treasure trove of IP that Marvel does. They even play in the same genre, which means they had the right content at the right time when superhero fever took hold. They had already seen successes with superhero films – just think of the various iterations of Batman and Superman that we’ve seen on screen in the last few decades. So why did they come second in the superhero race?

First of all, let me assure you that DC did come second. After officially launching the DCEU (DC Extended Universe) with Man of Steel in 2013, they released another 15 films, capping the collection with Aquaman 2 in 2023. For a total budget of $2.65 billion across the 16 films, they made a box office return of $7 billion. If you read carefully, that means they made $6.5 billion less across their collection of films than the MCU did for Phase 3 alone. To add insult to injury, 8 out of the 16 films failed to break even at the box office, indicating a 50% miss rate for the DCEU. 

Where did DC stumble?

In my opinion (and remember, it is an opinion column), the issue with DC has always been that they lacked continuity. How many Superman actors can you name off the top of your head? Doesn’t it feel like there’s a new Batman, played by a new face, in theatres every five years or so? Every time DC brings in a new actor to play a familiar character like Batman or the Joker, they essentially reset the entire franchise and retell the story. Given their history, it was probably always going to be a challenge to unlearn the pattern and build a universe instead of a franchise.

Continuity plagued them at every step of the journey, from storytelling to talent. One of the outright winners for the DCEU was director Patty Jankins’ Wonder Woman, which rocked the box office in 2017. Audiences loved the movie’s female protagonist, and wanted to see more. Now, here was an opportunity for DC to play to their advantage: DC comics traditionally had a greater number of female heroes and villains, something that their main competitor, Marvel, lacked. DC made bold claims about 6 more female-led superhero movies, featuring characters like Batgirl and Harley Quinn – but ended up cancelling all of them. Instead, they produced a lukewarm Wonder Woman sequel (which didn’t break even at the box office) and shifted the Wonder Woman character into a supporting role in ensemble films like The Justice League.

Perhaps one of the franchise’s most persistent challenges has been the numerous controversies surrounding its cast members. Some DCEU actors have faced well-publicised legal troubles (like Amber Heard), while others have sparked social media backlash (Gal Gadot and Zack Snyder). Even those not involved in scandals have been subject to speculation about potential recasting (Ezra Miller and Henry Cavill). In fact almost every major actor in the DCEU has been touched by some form of controversy, significantly damaging the franchise’s public image.

The idea of a cinematic universe isn’t a new one – in fact, DC planned (but didn’t execute) their first crossover film way back in 2002. They would have launched the DCEU with a Justice League film in 2008 – the same year that the MCU kicked off – but put those plans on hold to focus on their Green Lantern film. When that bombed, they postponed all DCEU plans until 2013.

By the time Man of Steel finally made it to screens in 2013, Marvel was on a roll and getting on with Phase 2 already. DC entered a blood-red competitive ocean with half of a concept and a prayer, and while it’s admirable that they managed to get a few winners on the screen along the way, it really isn’t that much of a surprise that the MCU rained all over their parade.

What’s next for DC, now that they’ve wrapped up their DCEU project? Given what you’ve just read, you probably won’t be surprised to learn that they are relaunching their universe – this time calling it the DCU – with a spate of new actors and directors. 10 films have been announced.

They’re starting with a Superman reboot. Obviously.

*this title was claimed by Avatar upon its re-release in 2019. Not really very fair, if you consider that Avatar essentially got two runs at the box office and Endgame got one… but anyway.

About the author: Dominique Olivier

Dominique Olivier is the founder of human.writer, where she uses her love of storytelling and ideation to help brands solve problems.

She is a weekly columnist in Ghost Mail and collaborates with The Finance Ghost on Ghost Mail Weekender, a Sunday publication designed to help you be more interesting.

Dominique can be reached on LinkedIn here.